Financial Power At WorkDynamic Father & Son Duo of Ramirez & Company Conquer Wall StreetBy Jeanette Dove

In the financial capital of the world, a father and son team with the same name and same attitude reach out for the same goal: To Conquer Wall Street. Samuel Ramirez, Sr. and Samuel Ramirez, Jr. of Ramirez & Company, the oldest Hispanic owned investment bank in the U.S. have been revolutionizing the way of investment banking for over 35 years. Ranked among the top 200 Hispanic companies in the U.S the dynamic duo has built a business and dedicated themselves in being able to compete on any level.

Born and raised in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican parents, and a graduate from St. Francis College in New York City with a B.A. in Economics, Sam Ramirez, Sr. looks back to the day he started Ramirez and Company in1971. According to Sam, Sr., “When I started Ramirez & Company, I had a driving desire to determine my own destiny, and of course, to provide for my family. Over the years, through hard work and the help of many, I feel we have achieved the success we enjoy today.”

Inspired by Frank Devers, an underwriter he worked with at Kidder Peabody, Ramirez, Sr. decided to launch the first Hispanic investment bank geared for the mainstream market. Today, Ramirez & Company is well respected in the Wall Street community and serves as a full-service securities firm, focusing on wealth management, underwriting, banking, research, institutional brokerage, and asset management. Their portfolio exceeds over $2 billion dollars in the management of over 4,000 privately managed accounts, average $150 million weekly on secondary market activity and have participated in initial public and follow-on offerings totaling over $100 billion dollars, one client being Kraft.

While steadfast in the mainstream market, Sam, Sr. reminds himself “Success can only be measured in one’s ability to help others and to be a positive influence within your environs, be it personal, social, community or business.” As a result, Ramirez & Company has become the only company with a full research department catered at focusing at Hispanic businesses. The Ramirez Hispanic Index (RHI), a rating system that includes Hispanic businesses that “have the largest market capitalization and highest average trading volumes” is an “Index comprised of the 10 largest, by market cap and trading volume, U.S. Hispanic publicly trade companies,” according to Sam, Jr. “To be considered Hispanic, the company must have 51% or more Hispanic ownership or derive 51% or more of their revenues from the Hispanic market.”